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Kanye West Tells Concertgoers He Would Have Voted for Donald Trump, Talks His 2020 Campaign

Rachel McRady

2:07 AM PST, November 18, 2016

If that was Kanye West’s way of announcing his candidacy, it could have gone better. On Thursday night, the 39-year-old rapper arrived late to his San Jose concert. Instead of jumping into his set list, West opted to rant about this year’s presidential election.

“I told y’all I didn’t vote, right? But if I were to vote, I would have voted on Trump,” he told the crowd, who immediately began booing him.

He continued to talk about why he supported the president-elect before transitioning into his song, “Heartless.” Just moments in, he stopped the music as the audience loudly objected.

“I just said that I would have voted for Donald Trump and then I did a song and y’all sang it at the top of your lungs,” he noted. “That doesn’t mean that you’re a Trump supporter. That just means you ok with a celebrity having their own opinion. Or that someone else is ok to have their own opinion. That might not be your opinion but you can still like that person or still like that person’s music.”

He went on to call out last week’s Saturday Night Live host, Dave Chappelle, saying, “Dave Chapelle, it’s ok. We can have opinions as celebrities. I know you said we couldn’t, but thank you for breaking the ice on a mentality of a generation.”

He also sparked audible criticism when he started talking about racism, saying, “Specifically to black people, stop focusing on racism. This world is racist, ok? Let’s stop being distracted to focus on that as much. It’s just a f**king fact. We are in a racist country. Period… Not one or the other candidate was going to instantly change that.”

After previously announcing his intention to run for president at the MTV VMAs in August 2015, West confirmed that he still plans to do so, saying, “I will take position in 2020 and do it myself.”

West’s statements caused lots of controversy among his fans who took to Twitter to talk about the concert and slam him. Here are some of their tweets:

Prior to the election results, West’s wife, Kim Kardashian, endorsed Hillary Clinton, as did her momager, Kris Jenner, and sister, Khloe Kardashian. Caitlyn Jenner was the only member of the famous family to publicly support Donald Trump.

West also attended a Clinton fundraising event back in August 2015, snapping a selfie with the former Democratic nominee.